PSY 325 - Psychology of Personality

Why are people the way they are? What accounts for why different people think, feel, and act differently? The answers to these questions are perhaps the central interest of personality psychologists.

This course provides a survey of the field of Personality Psychology. At ground level, the purpose of the course is to introduce you to the most important issues, methods, theories, research, and applications that comprise Personality Psychology as an academic discipline.

After a general introduction, we will discuss basic research methods and assessment techniques used by psychologists in their attempt to learn more about personality.

We then will proceed to discuss and critically evaluate the major theoretical perspectives on personality. These include the Trait and Biological approaches, the Psychoanalytic and Neo-Freudian approaches, the Behavioral approaches, the Humanistic approaches, and the Social-Cognitive approaches.

Along the way, we will discuss the role of culture in personality processes as well as a number of contemporary controversies and issues that divide personality psychologists.

Instructors

Bryan Dik

Bryan J. Dik is Professor and Associate Chair of Psychology at Colorado State University and co-founder and Chief Science Officer of jobZology, a CSU Ventures company that matches job seekers to employers using psychological assessment. His research interests focus on work as a calling or vocation; purpose, meaning, religion and spirituality in career development; vocational interests; and career development interventions. He teaches courses in vocational psychology, personality psychology, and the psychology